The Ducks' junior defensive tackle is a cousin of sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, a junior college transfer who entered fall camp fifth among the Ducks quarterbacks.

Toeaina, who lives with Masoli, was confident that it would be only a matter of time before his cousin climbed the depth chart.

"I always knew he was a good fit for this offense and I knew he would come right in and compete for the starting job," Toeaina said. "He's shining now."

Even though Toeaina has received limited playing time this season, he's received plenty of joy from watching Masoli go from a relative unknown to No. 19 Oregon's starting quarterback in Saturday's Civil War.

"He makes me so proud," Toeaina said. "Every time he does something on the field, no matter if it's good or bad, I try to be the first one to talk to him, to congratulate him or to tell him to keep his head up. He's having a great year and making our whole family proud."

Blount returns to practice: Oregon junior running back LeGarrette Blount returned to practice Wednesday after sitting out Tuesday's workout because of a sickness that he believes had to do with the cool temperature.

"I just had some chest pains," Blount said. "Probably congested, maybe because it was colder. I just got a really bad sinus problem and sometimes it'll kick in and sometimes it won't. But I feel good now."

Blount, who has tied the school record with 15 rushing touchdowns, doesn't plan on blaming the weather or the Oregon State defense if he has a poor performance Saturday. The last time Blount faced a ranked team, he was held to zero yards on nine carries in a loss at USC.

"If I don't play a good game, then that's all because of me," Blount said. "I feel that nothing can make me have a bad game except myself."

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti is optimistic that Blount will be at full strength against the Beavers.

"We did a bunch of tests and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong so hopefully he's going to be fine," Bellotti said.

Possible Pac-10 title: Oregon players and coaches are tired of hearing about how Oregon State has more to play for than the Ducks.

Even though the Ducks have been eliminated from the Rose Bowl, they are still alive for the Holiday Bowl and a share of the Pacific-10 Conference championship. If Oregon beats Oregon State and UCLA beats visiting USC on Dec. 6, there would be a three-way tie for first place between the Trojans, Ducks and Beavers.

"I don't think our motivation has to be let's knock (the Beavers) out of something," Bellotti said. "Our motivation is let's get into something."

Holiday plans: Oregon will practice from 11 a.m.-12:40 p.m. Thursday, followed by a team meal. Then the players will be free to enjoy separate Thanksgiving gatherings around town - with Bellotti's house among the possible destinations.

"They're all invited," Bellotti said. "I haven't heard of anybody needing a spot yet, but I'll double-check again with all the players. The most difficult thing is not being around family sometimes. But hopefully we help make up for that with what we do here."